Gunman in Afghan army gear kills NATO soldier

KABUL — A man wearing an Afghan army uniform killed a NATO soldier in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the alliance’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

The incident was the latest in a string of attacks on Western troops by men dressed in the uniform of local security forces, although it was not immediately clear if the killer was employed as a soldier.

“An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing one service member,” an ISAF statement said.

An ISAF spokesman said the gunman was not immediately killed but refused to say what happened to him, adding that the incident was being investigated.

Dozens of foreign troops have been gunned down by renegade police and soldiers or insurgents disguising themselves as Afghan security forces.

In one of the deadliest incidents in April, an Afghan pilot opened fire and killed six foreign troops at a NATO training centre for the national air force in Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that incident, but Afghan and foreign officials claimed it apparently happened after a row between the pilot and foreign officers.

In May, one coalition service member was killed when a man dressed as an Afghan soldier opened fire in southern Afghanistan.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years. A total of 310 coalition deaths have been reported so far in 2011, according to an AFP toll based on the website icasualties.org which keeps track of NATO deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.